So when this came out in 2011 I fell down the rabbit hole hard and put an upwards of 40 hours into the damn game trying time and time again to defeat Lord Dredmor. I eventually beat it and then never really went back and now I've started to fall down the hole again although this time there is SO MUCH STUFF that they added. So I was wondering if anyone had decent skill builds that I could try out. I think the time I beat it I went straight up mage and just blew up everyone with fireballs. So any fun suggestions?

Edit: Oh, I should mention I do have all the DLC as well so suggesting any of the DLC skills is okay.

As long as you don't end up making "useless" decisions (like specializing in multiple weapon types) most any skill distribution can be viable. Really it is about mitigating your "weak floors." For example, a magey Primordial Magic build will keep you safe on pretty much every floor except Floor 9.

If you want a "I Wanna Beat The Dredmor" build, you can do something like this;

(Any Melee Skill, I really like Unarmed)

Necronomiconomics

Astrology

Armor Mastery

Berzerking

Psionics

Archaeology

Necro, Astrology, Armor Mastery, and Berzerking will give you powerful defense the entire game (Astrology and Necronomiconomics gets you a lot of Necromantic resistance). Berzerking gives hella magic resistance, Psionics gives you an amazing early-game push and some healing spells, the melee skill is obvious, and Archaeology is mostly for the ability to turn unwanted magic items (arefacts) into EXP. You can easily gain a 2-3 level advantage on what the game expects with just This Belongs In A Museum!

For a bonus round, you can switch out Psionics or your melee skill for either Golemancy or Primordial Magic. The summons from those classes can tank all the way up to Dredmor.

You could try my uber-awesome tank build, which is also quite awesome at killing.

Unarmed combat

Clockwork knight

Shield bearer

Master of arms

Smithing

Tinkering

Berserker/archery/burglary/throwing/(piracy, for the auto-counter skill)...

With the DLCs and both smithing and tinkering you'll be able to craft the absolutely best armors and shields. Since you have unarmed combat you'll be dual-wielding shields for extreme defense. This build has been so solid for me every time that the 7th skill is really up for customization however you want. The only damage spikes that might be able to hurt you is magic damage, depending on what shields you use. Berserker rage adds some magic defense, I think the DLCs brought some other anti-magic skills too, however that's totally up to you. Crossbows/throwing weapons worked really well too since you have tinkering anyways. Or you could go for alchemy to have a constant supply of health potions if you wanna be really lame.

@Loafsmooch:

Yeah I think a lot of people underestimate Crossbows/Throwing. I built a character I named "Ambidextross." Who had Crossbows/Throwing/Unarmed/Shieldbearer/Psionics/Tinkering/Archaeology. No worries about traps, I could push people away, heal myself, tank hits, and do tons of damage from a range. It was one of the first builds I beat Dredmor pre-RotDG.

I took this Bankster skill on a character I made and Its...weird. Like I'm not entirely sure how it works are you supposed to build up "debt" by spawning coins then using that to dump damage on enemies?

Personally I usually roll with

Swords

Dual Wield

Master of Arms

Vampirism

Archaeology

Smithing

and I usually do half the time Artful Dodger and half Berserker Rage.

I would say first level you get you put one into vampirism for the health gain, then dump into smithing to make weapons, armor, and be healthy and strong. Then dump into swords. Basically dump into doing damage and preventing it, then dump into vampirism then finally archaeology. It works surprisingly well, you can de-trap traps pretty early on and pick up most of the low level ones which makes it a bonus for the early game. As you level up you can still do decent damage and protection, and depending on your weapons you can use traps that you pick up to your advantage still. I definitely recommend it